Weak-ly summary...

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. ~ Muhammad Ali

This wasn't much of a training week but sometimes rest does a body good. (Please don't sue me, National Dairy Council). I am still having my abdomen issues but the tendonitis seems to have healed, so I guess I am back to where I was two weeks ago. And that will have to be okay.

October 5-11, 2008

• Monday (10/6): Gym - lift and swim, 1:30. Since the doc said I wasn't supposed to run for a few days, I hit the gym to lift some weights and swim (albeit briefly). I am not much of a swimmer and though I went through a bit of a lifting phase a few years back, am really just working on high reps at this point. No need to bulk back up to super-sized Stu.
• Wednesday (10/8): Gym - lift and row, 1:15. Went to the gym intending to run on the treadmill but I forgot my shoes and Crocks are not only fugly but are not particularly awesome when it comes to running. So I lifted for a bit then used the rowing machine. Then I went home. I think the going home part was the most fun.
• Thursday (10/9): Treadmill and swim, 5 miles/20 lengths, 1:15. Lost track of time due to work stuff (again) and had to jam down to the community center to run on the treadmill for a bit. Just mixed up the speed and decided 5 miles would suffice for the day as I just wasn't feeling the love on the hamster wheel today. I did manage to keep a 9:00 pace, so that wasn't too bad. How the crap did Dean Karnazes run on this stupid thing for 48 hours? He logged 211.7 miles. And that is just silly.
  After my run, I swam for a bit. Actually getting better and did something like 20 lengths in about 20 minutes. I told you I was slow.
• Saturday (10/11): Peak-to-Peak popsicle, 7 miles, 00:57. Supposedly a recovery run but since I couldn't really figure out from what I was supposedly recovering (too many to choose from), I just kinda went with what felt right. Did about 6, 100-meter strides and felt okay for the most part. I was not really able to keep my heartrate down so just focused on having fun. My calves were fine, my abdomen hurt a bit but overall it was a good run in the very cool, misty October weather. Had to break out the gloves even.

Total mileage for the week: 12 miles
Total time for the week: 5 hours

The Denver Marathon is next Sunday so I have a week to go. Right now I am planning to just generally stick to my schedule the first half of the week then take it easy leading into the race. This is just a training race for me (shooting for 3:45-3:52) but my main goal is to run negative splits or to at least get a better feel for pacing and holding back the first half of the race. I have a tendency to go out a little hard and definitely can get swept up in the emotion of the event so I will really be practicing keeping my cool in hope that I learn something to apply to Vegas.

It is looking like it actually might snow for reals this time (currently 32 degrees, light drizzle and super foggy at my house). I'll keep you posted.

~stubert.